The Rise of The Venetian Mirror
The Venetian mirror was born on the tiny Italian island of Murano in Venice in the 15th century. Venetian mirrors were painstakingly
produced and creating one was a highly involved process. Upon completion, Venetian mirrors were considered to be masterpieces of art;
the beauty of Venetian mirrors surpassed the expectations of what a mirror should be.
Even with the arrival of the 16th century, Venetian mirrors were rarities, and the majority of them were custom made for royalty and nobles
with voracious appetites for collecting Venetian mirrors. Because the demand for Venetian mirrors surpassed the supply, it became possible
to purchase replicas, or "Venetian style mirrors", from dealers who specialized in upscale, valuable objects. Authentic Venetian mirrors
were set in precious frames made of beveled glass borders skillfully adjusted securely into place with metal screws and could only be purchased
from Venice, Italy. Thoroughly beautiful, genuine Venetian mirrors were difficult to acquire.
Venetian mirrors, the purest mirrors in the world, set the bar very high for other mirror manufacturers. The Venetian mirrors dominated the
industry; the authentic Venetian mirrors' popularity wiped out all competitive initiatives from abroad. The quality and the proportion of the
Venetian mirrors and their components, combined with the Venetian artists' hundreds of years of crafting experience, made the island of Murano
an extremely formidable opponent in the mirror making industry.
One reason the Venetian mirrors were considered so elusively beautiful was due to the top secret manufacturing procedures developed by the Murano
glass artisans. The Venetian glassmakers perfected the mystical gold dust technique: they inserted gold leaf into the glass prior to the solidification
process, leaving the gold leaf imbedded into the mirror's glass. Protected forever, the gold leaf added color and eternal sparkle to the Venetian mirror.
Another highly protected manufacturing secret was the "Lattimo" process. Lattimo is the name given for the translucent milky-white glass.
This technique involves the use of lead to color the glass. Over time, Venetian mirror makers perfected the this process and achieved the skills
to necessary to manipulate a variety of effects within the glass. When artfully distributed throughout the glass, the Lattimo process breathed new
life into the Venetian mirrors. Through the skillful manipulation of the golden dust technique and the lattimo technique together, the creation of
such details like artful borders, flowers, and ribbons are possible.
15th Century Venetian Mirrors
In the 15th century, the Venetian Island of Murano, otherwise known as the "Isle of Glass" became the epicenter of the art of glass making, and the
legendary birthplace of Venetian mirrors. Venetian master artisans invented the revolutionary "flat mirror technique": First, the master glaziers melted
tin into glass tubs. Once the tin cooled, the artisans broke the tin into separate pieces and applied it to the flat glass surface using a method that
the artisans learned only after being sworn to secrecy. Then they created a mysterious reflective mixture, also adding gold and bronze metals. The "magical"
mixture imparted the Venetian mirror with a pronounced quality of enhancement; things of beauty viewed in reality rendered absolutely stunning reflections.
The unsurpassed quality of these Venetian mirrors brought about a new reality: competitors began to relentlessly seek the production secrets of the Venetian mirrors.
So, to counteract this prying, the famed glass artists of Murano formed an elite panel called the "Council of Ten". The Council of Ten stringently protected
the widely coveted secrets of their glass making techniques. Transported to the island of Murano in secret, undercover master glassmakers posed as firefighters,
avoiding detection. The "Council of Ten" supported their master glassmakers with generous wages and comfortable accommodations, but isolated them from the
outside world in an extreme effort to uphold their solemn vow of confidentiality. The Venetian mirror industry yielded extremely high profits; and interference
from rivals was not optional. As it was, only the staggeringly wealthy could afford the magical Venetian mirrors. At the time, the cost of one Venetian mirror
was comparable to the cost of a naval ship.
The popularity of Venetian mirrors evolved into cultism; Venetian mirrors were highly sought after collectibles. Two kings of this period, King Hendry VIII of
England and King Francis I of France, were recognized for their fanatical collecting of Venetian mirrors. French nobility, forever attempting to stay abreast
with the collections of royalty, thought of money as no object when the opportunity to acquire a Venetian mirror presented itself. The cost of these Venetian
mirrors, in some instances known to exceed the cost of a significant number of human lives, was extreme. By ways of gentler comparison, a work of art painted
by Rafael was a less expensive choice than one Venetian mirror of the same size.
Venetian Mirrors in 16th and 17th Centuries
During the late 16th century, true to the style known as high fusion, the French queen Maria De Medici fancied a Mirrored Office for herself.
For this project, 119 custom Venetian mirrors shipped directly from the island of Murano. Perhaps as a token of appreciation for the magnitude of her
purchase, Venetian masters presented the queen of France with a breathtaking gift: a magnificent Venetian mirror encrusted with precious stones. This
extravagant Venetian mirror is preserved and kept in the Louvre in Paris, where it may be viewed today.
In the 17th century, hundreds of years of unrelenting persistence paid off when Colbert, the minister of Ludwig XIV, bribed three Murano masters with
gold and transported them in to France. Good students, the French quickly learned the Murano glass making techniques. They learned that the method the
Venetian masters perfected for their craft centered on the art of glassblowing. After mastering this technique, they expanded their repertoire of glass
making skills by developing their own. The French masters began manufacturing Venetian mirrors using casting techniques based on pouring glass into the
cast molds. Then they poured the glass directly from the dome into the perfectly smooth surface of the cast mold. As the glass cooled, they rolled it
with specialized rollers, achieving a perfect consistency and a smoothness of material. Immediately after the French developed this new technique, the
construction of the Mirrors Gallery in Versailles commenced. Embellished with 306 huge Venetian mirrors, the Mirrors Gallery measured 220 feet, or 73
meters long at completion.
In present times, Venetian mirrors continue to convey luxury and status. Today's market shows that there are a number of Venetian mirror "knockoffs"
flooding the market; these are mirrors that pass for Venetian mirrors but lack the craftsmanship of the genuine articles. These knockoffs are manufactured
all over the world and are often marketed as "Venetian inspired" or "Venetian Style" mirrors, or sometimes not at all, giving no indication the consumer
that they are imitations. However, the informed consumer knows that just as genuine champagne only comes from the Champagne province in France; authentic
Venetian mirrors come only from the Venetian island of Murano in Italy. Although Venetian mirrors are still highly priced and highly sought after items,
most Venetian mirrors are considered affordable investments and functional works of art. Indeed, once you behold the fine details and craftsmanship that
defines the Venetian mirror, the magnetic lure of the Venetian mirror's beauty is practically impossible to resist.
Today's Venetian Glass Mirrors
Every classic Venetian mirror we offer is hand made in Venice, Italy. All of the Venetian mirrors we offer are produced by the methods of the 18th
and 19th century techniques perfected by generations of skilled artisans. The skill of the modern Murano glass artisans is clear when you view our selection
of Venetian mirrors. Even today, the Murano glass artisans possess skills that are almost magical; it cannot be denied that the mirrors they craft are
flawless works of art. The perfectly honed skills and aesthetic tastes of the Venetian glassmakers are evident in each Venetian mirror’s exquisite details.
The traditional characteristics of Venetian glass are present in our mirrors: they possess unsurpassed clarity; they are exceedingly lightweight; they are
brilliant in color; and they possess the elusive quality of ductility, which permits the astonishing fantasy of form.
Many of the Venetian mirrors we offer feature carefully crafted roses, ribbons and tender leaves, enhancing the Venetian mirrors elegant look with delicate
details. The intricacies on some of the Venetian mirrors we offer are crafted using traditional glass technique. All of the stunning Venetian mirrors we offer
are hand-crafted masterpieces constructed in a multiple step process. Each piece of clear or colored glass that makes up the mirror’s elaborate composition is
hand-cut or hand-blown. The Venetian mirror is shaped, polished, and then the design is hand-etched into the mirror's surface. Once each piece of glass is
backed with silver, all the pieces are finally assembled and fastened onto the mirror’s wooden substructure.
The Venetian mirrors featured on our site are incredible values. To own one of these Venetian mirror is to own a piece of a history that is filled with mystery,
romance, and intrigue. These affordable works of art retain their symbolic status that only centuries of history can impart. Behold your image in the Venetian
mirror of your choice, and witness the legend of the mirror for yourself.
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